-Caveat Lector-
Monday, February 15, 1999 Published at 10:46 GMT BBC Online
Sci/Tech
Government 'covered up food report'
Genetically modified vegetables: Concerns
The scientist whose research sparked new fears over genetically modified
(GM) foods has reportedly accused the government of covering up his
findings.
Dr Arpad Putsztai said that since October the Scottish Office had refused
to release an "alternative report" on the research, according to the
Scotsman newspaper.
It obtained a letter said to be written by Dr Putsztai to a sympathiser, in
which the scientist accused Scottish Health Minister Sam Galbraith of
"sitting on our conclusions".
It reads: "At least some MPs ought to know that there has been a cover-up,
so that when the whole truth is revealed, they cannot say, 'I am afraid I
did not know what was going on'.
"Let us hope that eventually everything will be revealed as in a civilised
democratic society it should be."
The Scottish Office said it had received the alternative report as a matter
of course, but it was up to Dr Puztai's former employer, the Rowett
Research Institute (RRI) to publish it.
Dr Putsztai: His research suggests GM foods are harmful
Dr Putsztai was suspended last year from his post at the RRI in Aberdeen
after saying his research showed that rats fed with GM potatoes had
suffered immune system damage.
He is barred from speaking publicly about the affair.
Research released on Friday gave fresh support to Dr Putsztai's previously
discredited findings.
The row deepened on Sunday following newspaper allegations that the Rowett
Institute received �140,000 from Monsanto, one of the leading companies in
the GM industry.
The government refuses calls for a moratorium on GM food research.
But public concerns remain. A weekend poll on the BBC's teletext service
Ceefax received 10,392 calls from viewers saying they would not eat
genetically modified potatoes - 280 people rang to say they would.
Government 'underplaying' GM use
The government has also come under attack from the campaigning group
GeneWatch for allowing "the GM situation to get out of control".
GeneWatch said that more GM products were being used in food production
than the government has admitted to.
According to the government, the only GM food products now on sale are
tomato paste, some soya and maize, and cheeses made with a GM rennet.
But GeneWatch said 12 other GM enzymes were licensed for use in a wide
range of processed foods.
"No-one knows the true extent of GM in food because so little of it is
labelled or monitored," said GeneWatch director Dr Sue Mayer. "It could be
used in up to 90% of processed foods in our supermarkets."
Supermarket labels praised
But the Consumer Association praised supermarket labelling, saying a
voluntary code of practice exceeded European law on GM food. Current rules
introduced last September require certain specified GM soya and maize
products to be labelled as such.
The consumer watchdog's spokeswoman said: "We believe that all products
that are derived by the process of genetic modification should be labelled.
"The EU regulation that is currently in place doesn't even go as far as
some of the supermarkets have. They have taken public opinion and concern
about GM products on board."
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